5. listening to the groundswell

Lynn Perry has cancer. In fact, he has had three forms of terminal cancer: prostate cancer, which spread to the bones; lung cancer; and cancer of the epiglottis. The treatments to his throat give him a hoarse, smoky voice like a country singer, which fits pretty well since he’s a Harley-riding, keyboard-playing ex-engineer from Plano, Texas.

Perry (everybody calls him Perry) has an engineering background that makes him a pretty analytical guy, in his own down-home country philosopher way. He doesn’t sound sad about his cancer—he’s lived with it for six years and will keep going until he can’t anymore. He’s in his sixties, and he reserves his sympathy for people he feels are worse off than him—children he’s met ...

Get Groundswell, Expanded and Revised Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.